


The Gay Look

by Idzzdi



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Coming Out, Falling In Love, First Date, Friendship/Love, Gay Male Character, Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-24
Updated: 2013-02-24
Packaged: 2017-12-03 12:17:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/698154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Idzzdi/pseuds/Idzzdi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Oh come on. I know you fancy him.” Harry said, nudging Liam's leg with his foot. “You give him this gay look.” And Harry proceeded, making the 'gay look' and Liam really hoped that he did not look at Niall this way. Because if he did, he was being pretty darn obvious.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gay Look

**Author's Note:**

> Didn't think this was my best work in the beginning. The ending is kinda sweet though so I hope you guys like it anyways. :)

„I broke up with Danielle. And I'm gay.“ Liam blurted out, propping his hands onto the table in the tour bus. Harry, Louis, Niall and Zayn were all sat around it, gazing up at Liam in confusion. They exchanged looks for a moment before general confusion took over and they all started chattering.

“Wait, seriously?” Louis asked after a moment, cocking an eyebrow at Liam curiously. Liam was still standing by the table, leaning down onto it and anxiously waiting for his friends reactions.

“Yeah.” He confirmed, nibbling on his bottom lip.

“Well.. congratulations?” Louis tried, not sure of what he was to say to that. Niall snorted from the other end of the table, amused by Louis' awkward try to express his acceptance. Harry grined along with Niall, patting his back.

“That makes two then, right?” Harry said, not looking at anyone but he didn't need to. They all had felt kind of thrown off when Niall had broken the news to them almost half a year ago. It wasn't that any of the four boys had had anything against gays, they just hadn't known how to handle the new situation. But it was all good now and the fact that suddenly Liam was turning gay as well had an almost comic note to it.

“Well, sit down then already.” Zayn said after a while, scooting down the bench to make room for Liam. The other boy still looked at his friends nervously, lacing his fingers and waiting for more confirmation that he was still allowed to sit with them. And even though he was acting ridiculously in all the boys' eyes they still knew that this is the way Liam thought and so Harry made room as well, Niall nodded with a smile and Louis kept chattering on. They all saw Liam sigh out a breath of relief before he slid in next to Zayn and smiled shyly up at the other boys.

“So, who's next?” Harry asked with a laugh, wiggling his eyebrows inappropriately at the boys across from him. “Zayn?”

“Shut it, Styles.” Zayn huffed out, shifting in his seat uncomfortably. “I'm not gay. Anything you wanna tell us?” Harry only laughed at his harsh words.

“No, I'm good. Louis?”

“I'm afraid not.” He said with a laugh and Niall pretended to grieve from across the table, making Louis roll his eyes at him. “Though lads as attractive as Liam make you wanna change your mind, right?” He asked, looking at Niall the entire time but Niall only stuck his tongue out at him, ignoring the snappy comment. Liam blushed at his words though and Zayn casually threw an arm around his shoulders, poking his side until a smile was tugging on his lips as well.

“I'm not changing my mind, sorry.” Zayn told Liam with a laugh, shrugging as good as he could with his arm still wrapped around Liam's shoulder. “Looks like you'll have to cope with Niall.”

“Cope with me?” Niall asked from across the table, making a face. “It's not coping. It's an honor.” Harry, Louis and Zayn laughed and Liam tried a weak smile, but failed rather horribly, looking sort of scary.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever honor.” Zayn said dismissively waving his free hand. The other hand was still wrapped around Liam's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly as he spoke. “You better get over it and teach Liam here how to be a good gay.” Zayn grinned widely and Louis huffed out a laugh, but neither Niall nor Liam looked happy with his suggestion.

“Well..” Liam started lowly, furrowing his brows deep in thought. “I could probably, er, use some guidance?” 

“There you go!” Harry said laughing, nudging his shoulder against Niall's. “Niall here can teach you all about it. He made me sit with him and hold his hand through googling anything from gay dates over gay sex to weird gay kinks.”

“Sounds like you're into it.” Louis teased from across the table and Harry rolled his eyes at him.

“I made sure to protect my virgin eyes, thank you.” He snapped back and not even Liam could help but laugh at his words.

“Whatever.” Louis replied and it was obvious that he didn't believe of what Harry said, but their argument was interrupted by Niall who suddenly slid off the bench and walked away quickly to the back of the bus. The connecting door was slammed shut (as much as one can slam a paper thin wall) and the four boys at the table went quiet.

“Did that cross the line?” Harry asked right away, feeling bad for teasing his friend all the sudden. Louis and Zayn only shrugged, still staring after Niall.

“Maybe a gay line.” Louis said with a devilish smirk and Harry had to bite his bottom lip hard in order not to laugh at Louis' sinister joke.

“Hey!” Liam protested half angry. “Still another gay in the room.”

“Sorry, other gay.” Zayn apologized with a grin, bumping his shoulder against Liam's. Liam grinned back and nodded appreciatively leaning into Zayn a little bit.

“So, who's gonna get the other other gay?” 

~

The boys thought it was Harry's comment about Niall doing some research after finding himself fancying boys rather then girls that had made him upset. Though they were wrong and Niall was sitting in his bunk with the curtains closed (which is as much privacy as one can get on a cramped tour bus) for a different reason. He could hear the four boys talking in the other room and heared Liam tell them about the talk he had had with Danielle and all that kinds of things. He also heared them tell him not to worry about changing anything up and that Niall would be there for him to take him out some time. And that made Niall's heart clench again all the sudden.

It wasn't that Niall didn't like Liam, because he really did, but he didn't want to be the one teaching Liam all about being gay. First of all he didn't even know what there was to teach, because really most things were the same with boys and girls. And the things that weren't were the things Niall had read on the Internet and he was almost positive he was never going to say those words out loud. And since Niall didn't want to (and also didn't get to) be publicly gay he also didn't even know any gay people he could have introduced Liam to. Well expect Nick, but Liam already knew Nick and Nick wasn't even his type, was he?

Niall really hoped he wasn't, because that went along with the other reason why he didn't want to teach Liam. He.. liked Liam. Kind of. Not really. And then again he did. But he didn't like to admit it, not even to himself, so it was a little tricky. He had always had this little crush on Liam, because damn that boy was fit, but Niall hadn’t thought that his crush was ever going to be anything more than a crush. Because Liam wasn't gay. Expect now he was and everything was different and Niall didn't know what to think of that. All he knew was that he didn't want to be the one hooking Liam up with other guys and watching him snog them.

~

But Niall was a good friend. And so he did. He went to a gay club with Liam and helped him talk to this guy and watched as they danced and ground and snogged. And it was awful and Niall felt like he had to puke but he couldn't change it.

He had wanted to say no to whatever Liam was going to ask him. But Liam had asked him with his shy little smile and his ridiculously attractive face and Niall had known it was a trap but he had said yes anyways.

So this was how things went and Niall was depressed, sipping on his drink and growing more and more disgusted by how intimate the dance moves (if one could still call them that) were getting between Liam and what's-his-face. Niall doubted Liam knew the bloke's name himself because honestly Liam was pretty gone when the boy had come over to talk to him. And from the way his knees wobbled when dancing Niall could tell that Liam was still pretty pissed, so he decided to keep an eye on him. Niall did want him to have a good time, but he also knew that Liam would be pissed in the morning if he woke up at a random guy's house, no (gay) virgin any longer and infected with some disgusting STD.

And Niall told himself that he made this decision without the weird feeling of jealousy perking up in his stomach.

~

The next morning Liam woke up with a horrible taste is his mouth and horribly aching limps, not to mention the horrible pain throbbing in his head. But he also felt warm and fuzzy on the inside, wiggling his head a little and cuddling back into his pillow. Except what he was laying on wasn't his pillow.

Slightly confused and still majorly tired he opened his eyes slowly, trying to focus on the room around him. It seemed kind of familiar but it most certainly wasn't his and that let a certain feeling of panic creep up inside his body. He shifted a little, trying to see what he was laying on and opening his eyes wide in surprise when he looked down onto a male chest. A naked male chest.

“Morning.” He heared a very familiar voice mumble from above and his head snapped up to see Niall grinning down at him. As soon as he recognized his features he couldn't scramble out of the bed fast enough, pushing himself off the bed backwards and trembling a little, hitting his head on the ground as he fell.

“Oh God, are you okay?” Niall asked, sitting up and eying Liam in concern. But Liam ignored his questions, still too thrown off by the situation. To his own relief he found that he was still fully dressed and that also Niall had only taken off his shirt.

“What happened?” Liam asked, not daring to lift his head off the floor. He stared up that sealing, trying to ignore the pounding that had only gotten worse when his head hit the ground.

“Between you and I?” Niall asked, sounding bewildered and amused at the same time. “Nothing.” He laughed and if Liam hadn't been as hungover or tired he would have felt hurt by how quickly and cheerfully Niall told him that.

“Or do you mean between you and that one random bloke?” Niall kept asking and Liam's head snapped up at that comment. More pain shot through his head and he tried to ignore it while at the same time trying to remember what had happened the night before. Liam's confusion must have been all over his face because Niall only grinned, before he began to tell Liam all about the night before. “Well as you might reckon from the horrible headache you probably have, you were pretty drunk last night. And somewhere between fizzy cocktails and tequila shots this randoms guy walks by and you ask me what to say to him so I dig out the very most cheesiest pick up I can think of, because frankly at that point in time I believed you were only kidding. Turns out you were not. Long story short, dancing happened, making out happened and as this guy, I don't remember his name and I don't believe you ever bothered asking, but yeah as he was about to make some more happen, I decided you should go easy on your first night. So I snatched you from his daemon claws and took you home with me.”

Liam hid his face behind his hands, groaning as he heard the story but no memory came back to him whatsoever. They laid in silence for a while; Liam on the ground and Niall in bed, listening to each other's calm breathing.

“I'm sorry..” Liam said after a while and the words linger between them. Liam could hear Niall shift in bed, but refused to look up and face the boy. “I probably should have, er.. just let you show me? I don't know..” All he could hear was Niall's quiet snickering from the bed, probably imagining showing him how to properly kiss a boy. “I'll just.. you take the wheel from here.”

Niall's snickering stopped and caused Liam to look up and face the boy that was still laying in bed, on his front now, his head propped up on his hands.

“There is nothing more I can teach you.” Niall said after a while, blinking his eyes quickly and shyly looking down. “I mean.. somehow in one night you managed to get further than I did in the past half year, so..”

“Wait, what?” Liam asked, sitting up quickly and regretting it immediately when the pain in his head started throbbing again. Niall only gazed back at him, pressing his lips in a tight line and not answering Liam's question. To him it was pretty obvious what he was saying, but apparently not to Liam. “Are you telling me you hadn't had a hook up in the past six months?”

Niall still didn't speak and only shrugged, shaking his head slowly and Liam gazed at him in surprise.

“Why not? You're really attractive!” He blurted out, blushing as soon as he realized what he had just said. Liam forced out a laugh, trying to cover up the honesty in his words. He would rather have Niall think he made lame jokes than have him known that he would love to get his fingers tangled up in his hair sometime. Or his pants, whichever worked.

“Uhm, thanks?” Niall replied shyly, shuffling through the bed uncomfortably. “I'm gonna go grab a shower, alright?” And he jumped off the bed and walked out of the room before Liam even had the chance to say something. So he laid back down on the ground, pressing his temple against the softness of the carpet, trying to sooth the painful throbbing. He just always had to get things messed up.

~

After the first little antic at the gay club Liam went back to being the well behaved and cultured boy he had been before. The other boys kept teasing him for quite some time, because obviously Niall couldn't keep the story to himself and after the first shock of Liam, the good old puppy Liam, going out and almost hooking up with a random bloke, it had turned into one of their inside jokes and was brought up constantly.

Liam had been nervous it first, wondering if maybe the boy was going to talk to the press. Even more so because he didn't even remember his name so he had no chance to bribe him into anything. But the kept quite and Liam got lucky; unlike Niall who still regretted his first fay encounter with a random boy (Niall had been pissed as ever, not thinking about the after maths. But when the boy later on threatened to tell the press – even thought nothing really happened – management had to make up some ridiculous story about him violently wanking in his hotelroom instead of snogging random guys. The story was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to Niall and the boys would never let him forget, but fortunately the story was so incredibly ridiculous that none of the fans believe it anyways.).

So a few days later everything went back to normal and the boys rehearsed and worked and hung out like they had before, acting like nothing had changed. And really nothing had changed. Liam was gay, but so was Niall and somehow everyone seemed to be coping quite well. And so Liam was happy.

And Liam was so happy, that the next weekend he invited all the boys out for lunch, though he would never admit the real reason to them. They didn't ask and so Liam assumed that either they knew or they didn't wonder. Hoping it was the latter he couldn't stop smiling all throughout the meal, chatting and laughing with his best friends.

After they had finished their meal they all strolled out of the restaurant happily and beaming at each other.

“Anyone up for a movie?” Harry asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and cocking his head to the side, waiting for the boys' answers.

“Sure.” Liam replied right away, just so happy. Niall nodded and so did Louis, kicking a pebble with his foot.

“I'm actually meeting up with Perrie, so..” Zayn admitted, his voice trailing off.

“Partypooper.” Niall scold him playfully. Zayn stuck out his tongue at him with a fake expression of hurt but hugged all the boys goodbye a moment later, making his way down the street and leaving the four by themselves.

And so shortly afterwards later the four boys all climbed into Louis' car, riding to the cinema while still laughing and chatting.

“Why did we even take Louis' car?” Niall asked after a while. He and Liam were stuck in the backseats and they had to turn sideways in order to fit their legs into the car. “We could've taken Harry's Landrover. It's huge.”

“Awh, don't even act like you don't enjoy being all cuddly with Liam in the back there.” Harry said with a laugh and Niall had to bow his head to hide his blushing face.

“Hey, don't do anything gay back there!” Louis warned them with a look in the rearview mirror. Liam laughed, swatting Louis' arm, feeling his own face heat up a little. But from the corner of his eye he saw that Niall's face was just as flushed and he had to turn to look out the window to hide the ridiculous grin that was plastered across his face. Maybe this wasn't all that bad..

~

But maybe Harry and Louis knew, Liam thought as they watched the movie they had picked. Liam had been interested at first and been glad that they picked a decent movie, but when Louis and Harry insisted on Niall and him sitting next to each other and sharing a drink as well as their popcorn he had grown kind of suspicious.

“I just really wanna sit next to Louis.” Harry explained, batting his eyelashes sillyly, but the devilish smirk on his lips took away the innocence from his statement.

“And you wonder why people still believe in Larry Stylinson.” Niall muttered under his breath as he sunk into the seat next to Liam and Liam couldn't help but snicker at his words. Niall beamed back at him and for a moment Liam thought that sitting next to Niall maybe wasn't going to be all that bad.

And so they fought over popcorn, spilled half their drink and missed most of the movie but Liam had a good time. They tried to keep their giggling down but he was almost certain, that they annoyed half the audience with their banter.

“Will you just keep your hands off him?” Harry hissed halfway through the movie. He was sat on Liam's other side and every now and then had to witness their little fights first hand.

“Yeah, or kiss him so he shuts the fuck up.” Louis agreed, rolling his eye dramatically. Liam only prayed that Niall didn't hear their hissed insults, but from the way he stopped throwing popcorn and started actually watching the movie, he reckoned Niall had heard it all.

As they left the movie theater Liam let out a sigh of relief, thinking that he was through the worst part. But he had underestimated Harry and Louis who seemed to take great joy in trying to get their two gay friends to be together. And so Harry very not subtly at all declared that him and Louis had plans together afterwards and Niall would have to give Liam a ride home. Liam glared at his two friends, because really they were no help here, but Niall agreed cheerily and so Liam decided to let go of it.

And so after Harry and Louis were gone, Liam and Niall walked down the street by the cinema, slowly making their way back to the car.

“They at least could've taken us back to the restaurant.” Liam complained, not too keen on walking all the way back to where Niall's car was parked.

“You exhausted already?” Niall joked, looking over his shoulder quickly to where one could still see the cinema.

“Yeah, let's take a break.” Liam said with a laugh, but Niall took his request a little more seriously than Liam intended for it to be and dragged the older boy into a coffee shop near by and sitting him down at a table before Niall went to grab coffee for the two.

Liam had tried talking him out of it, saying that he had only been kidding, but Niall seemed like he didn't want to hear it. And so Liam shut up, taking the coffee Niall had bought his gratefully and thanking the Irish lad a million times.

They sat together and chatted and laughed and Liam was feeling very, very comfortable. Halfway through their conversation they got recognized by some teenage girls, taking pictures with them before skipping out of the coffee shop quickly and hasting down the sidewalk.

“Ah, sometimes I hate being famous.” Liam complained, not daring to slow down his steps.

“Because you have to run from the fans?” Niall asked with a laugh, looking over his shoulder, not spotting anyone but not slowing down his steps either.

“Yeah, that's one of the reasons.”

Niall cocked an eyebrow at him curiously, and Liam took a deep breath, thinking about how to explain what he meant without offending Niall.

“And well.. I- We can't be open with our.. sexuality. We kind of have to keep it.. in the band.”

Niall nodded and he seemed to take a quite well so Liam let a breath of relief, smiling down at the ground.

“I don't mind, you know?” Niall said after a while and Liam looked up at him curiously. “Keeping it in the band, I mean.” The Irish boy blushed lightly and Liam wasn't too sure what exactly Niall had been talking about. Was he really only referring to coming out.. or was there maybe more behind the boy's words?

~

Liam and Niall were getting along great, at least in Liam's eyes, so he was happy and the Irish lad was happy all the time anyways, so everything was great. Expect for Harry maybe, because the curly haired boy was incredibly curious and thought that Liam and Niall were made for each other. But the worst part was that he felt no need to keep this a secret and constantly made cheeky comments, putting both boys in awkward situations. “Oh hey, Liam looks absolutely stunning today, doesn't he Niall?” or “Who wouldn't want a buff man like Niall to hold you in his strong arms, right Liam?” being the rather subtle ones.

But Harry still was a good lad and Liam was not a rude person, so they kept hanging out. Or Harry kept inviting himself over to Liam's flat and Liam would never kick him out, so currently they were watching TV together. Or the TV was turned on but, but the volume was low and they were chatting. Or basically Harry was chatting, trying to bribe Liam into admitting that he liked Niall.

“Oh come on. I know you fancy him.” Harry said, nudging Liam's leg with his foot. “You give him this gay look.” And Harry proceeded, making the 'gay look' and Liam really hoped that he did not look at Niall this way. Because if he did, he was being pretty darn obvious.

And just as Harry started rambling again, Liam's phone rang saving him from another round of Harry's cocked eyebrows and pursed lips. Unfortunately it was Niall calling and Liam jumped off the couch to answer the call hastily. Which probably hadn't been the smartest move either, because from the way Harry's lips quirked up knowingly Liam was being obvious again.

“Hey.” He answered the call, scolding himself internally for his stupid behavior.

“Hello there.” Niall chattered through the phone and a stupid smile forced its way onto Liam's lips.

“What's up?” He asked, trying to sound as nonchalantly as possible.

“Erm.. I was wondering if you were up for dinner tonight? And maybe a movie?” Niall asked carefully, his voice quieter than usually.

“Dinner and a movie?” Liam asked cheerily. “Yeah, sounds great. Harry is just over, you want me to ask him too?” Liam turned to look at Harry who was still sitting on the couch, but rolled his eyes as Liam as he spoke.

“Actually..” Niall replied hesitantly, sounding even quieter than before and nervous all the sudden. “I was wondering if, er, maybe.. it was going to be.. just, er, you and I? Maybe? I mean if you'd like?”

“Oh.” Liam said, feeling like somebody had just slapped him in the face. Harry's face twisted into a painfully wide grin and Liam started backing up, trying to leave the room as unsuspiciously as possible.

“I know he's asking you out, you don't have to leave the room!” Harry yelled after him and Liam's hand flew up to the phone, trying to cover up the microphone.

“Do you, er..” Liam started as he closed the door to his kitchen. “Do you mean like.. a date?”

“Well..” Niall seemed to be lost for words and so they waited in silence for a while before Niall spoke again. “Would you.. would you want it to be a date?”

“I- I don't know.” Liam replied honestly, clutching onto the sink to steady himself. “I- Would you?”

“I actually kind of thought that.. getting coffee the other day after the movie already was a date so.. I wouldn't mind, you know.”

Liam thought he needed some time to think of a suitable answer to Niall's proposal, but then again he already knew his answer and he feared that if he hesitated too long Niall would mistake his silence for disapproval. And thus Liam simply blurted out the first few words that came to his mind.

“Yes, yes. A date it is.”

Niall's quiet snickering could be heard through the phone and Liam blushed a little.

“Okay. I'll come pick you up at 7?” Niall offered and Liam nodded quickly, before remembering that Niall couldn't see him. And so he rolled his eyes at his own stupidity, before replying to Niall.

“Yes, okay. Yes, great. I mean- Yeah. 7 sounds good..”

Niall giggled some more, Liam blushed some more and soon after they bid each other farewell. Liam almost dropped his phone due to his anxiously shaking hands and as he caught a look of himself in the reflecting surface of the fridge he knew what Harry meant when he talked about his 'gay look'.

**Author's Note:**

> What did you think? First time writing Niam btw, so how did that go?


End file.
